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It’s a fresh take on Sherlock Holmes which will transplant the sleuth to a modern-day setting. But it doesn’t take Baker Street’s finest to deduce the source material for a major new drama announced by American network CBS.

The producers of the BBC’s acclaimed Sherlock series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, are prepared to take legal action against the US network over a rival Holmes series which appears to tread on familiar ground.

The BBC version is already a cult hit in America, where it is screened on the PBS network. The show’s contemporary reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, allied to slick production values, impressed network executives at CBS – so when an offer to remake the BBC’s Sherlock for US viewers came to nothing, they decided to go ahead and make their own.

In a move which has caused concern at Hartswood Films, the BBC show’s producers, CBS has commissioned Elementary, described as a new Sherlock Holmes adaptation set in modern-day New York.

Sue Vertue, Sherlock Executive Producer at Hartswood Films, said: “We understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It’s interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show. At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn’t resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying.” She added: “We are very proud of our show and like any proud parent, will protect the interest and wellbeing of our offspring.”

How Sheen’s character Charlie Harper would be killed off was a closely-held secret and it was revealed right away during the season premiere: he slipped on a subway platform in Paris and was hit by an oncoming train.

“His body just exploded like a balloon full of meat,” Harper’s obsessed neighbor Rose explained.

Sheen went on a spectacular, insult-spewing rampage against Lorre and CBS after he was fired for drug use and erratic behavior earlier this year. Lorre took the arrows silently — until Monday night.

The show opened with Jon Cryer, who played ad writer Harper’s sad-sack brother Alan, speaking at Charlie’s wake in front of a coffin and one of Sheen’s signature shirts. Alan said that it was a sad day for everyone.

NEW YORK Reuters -The red-haired bully from the movie “A Christmas Story” is preparing for a courtroom slugfest with Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.

Actor Zack Ward, who played Scut Farkus in the 1983 film, has sued Warner Bros for using his image in toy action figures without his permission.

The suit, filed on Tuesday in California federal court, charges that the studio had no right to license Ward’s likeness for use in consumer merchandise. Ward wasn’t consulted and didn’t authorize the production of the Scut Farkus figurine, the complaint said.

Ward’s case is the latest in a spate of actions by actors seeking to recover merchandise profits related to classic film and television works. As recently as five years ago, such suits were rare because actors had little way of knowing if and when their images were being used by studios. That has changed, thanks to the Internet, as well as a steep increase in merchandising by studios, making the products more generally visible.

You might think the British press holds a monopoly on media controversy this month, with the shuttering of a 168-year-old tabloid over a phone-hacking scandal. Still, at least one Yank media concern has won recent unwelcome notoriety–fittingly enough, for airing misleading video footage on the national holiday commemorating American independence from the British crown. CBS has been caught doctoring Fourth of July footage after Bostonians realized Thursday that the network’s images of fireworks over various city landmarks were not only breathtaking, but also fake. An area research scientist appears to have been among the first to point out the discrepancy on a Boston-based blog. Then the Boston Globe got wind of the scandal and blew the story up in its pages Friday, noting that “it would not have been geographically possible to see the fireworks above and behind the landmarks in question”–including the State House, Quincy Market, and home plate at Fenway Park–“since the display was launched from a barge in the Charles River and in directions away from those places.”But at least “the Boston-area businessman and philanthropist who has executive produced the show for nine years,” David Mugar, is owning up to the manipulated imagery. The Globe reports:Mugar said the added images were above board because the show was entertainment and not news. He said it was no different than TV drama producer David E. Kelley using scenes from his native Boston in his show “Boston Legal” but shooting the bulk of each episode on a studio set in Hollywood.

Unfortunately for most of us, the price tag is limited to the pockets of clients like the ones mentioned above, but the technology could well mean great changes in the coming years. For the moment, you can download a pdf file that explains how the system works (in non-technical terms) and you can also see a report about the invention that was made for the CBS show Sixty Minutes.